Malta
World: 'Malta *'Location: Subsector Tyranus *'Type': Fortress World *'Tithe': Milites Technically Malta tithes large numbers of Imperial Guard regiments, but as all of them are assigned to defend Malta this planet's tithe is effectively Aptus Non. *'Population': 700 Million 000 000 (native population only; population of Imperial Guard forces originating from off-world estimated to be at least 50 million and constantly fluctuating). *'Government': Military Rule. Everything about Malta is militarised, every single citizen has a military rank, every citizen recieves military training, and every citizen is technically in the planet's PDF. Ruled by a parliament of the planet's Generals, these officers decide who among them shall be Lord General and planetary governor of Malta. The current Lord General of Malta is Baratheus Kal. 'Description' The entirety of Subsector Tyranus was founded around Malta. When the giant warp storm known as The Grave was discovered during the Great Crusade, the Imperium recognised the need to keep chaotic forces as close to the storm as possible and not allow them to escape and spread out. For this purpose Malta was built into a massive military fortress. During the periods where Imperial control of Sector Deus was lost, Malta always maintained a strong internal control due to the realities of their existence. However without the outside support of the rest of the Sector they would suffer immensely under chaos attack, often losing large areas of territory and failing to contain most splinter groups. Hence during these times Subsector Tyranus would often be ravaged by heretical raiders and warbands. The most recent return of Imperial control was the Belisarian Reclamation Crusade in M37 where Malta was cleansed and reclaimed by General Jean Valles, one of Artorion Belisarius' best commanders. A frontline General who battled heretics with his men, Jean Valles would come to be known as Jean the Purifier and earned a reputation as a great daemon hunter. In the wake of the crusade and in the centuries since Jean the Purifier has been a figure of worship, though not quite to the level of Imperial sainthood. Through the millennia all the way up to M41, Malta has retined its single-minded purpose to contain heretics from The Grave. People live in bunkers rather than houses, pillboxes & defensive structures designed to bottleneck advancing enemies into giant killzones cover the land masses of the planet and the oceans are more explosives than water. Every single citizen is trained and armed to the quality of any PDF soldier and whilst most of them work in civilian positions (transportation, administration etc.), every single one of them can don their weapons and armour and be pressed into full military action in a heartbeat. The Inquisition maintains a large presence on Malta, particularly those of the Ordo Malleus, to combat the internal daemonic threats created by constant assaults from warp-borne horrors. Given the nature of their purpose citizens of Malta do not undergo the typical mindwipe procedure following encounters with the daemonic. Of course such dangerous knowledge necessitates stringent security protocols regarding interplanetary travel. The quarantine zone encompasses Malta, its orbital stations and the Shield Array, and applies to all humans who cannot be trusted with knowledge of the daemonic (exemptions include Inquisition, Astartes etc.). To enforce this all the docks in orbit capable of handling warp-capable ships are heavily guarded by Inquisitorial personnel, and when warp-ships do dock to drop off incoming supplies they are offloaded by servitors. Of course there are no restrictions on who may enter, but Imperial Guard reinforcements are usually the only non-exempt humans who enter the quarantine zone. Therefore regiments sent to Malta never leave. The only time Maltan soldiers use these docks to leave is when they're boarding one of their troop transports that exclusively travel between Malta and the Shield Stations. *'Technology': – Admirable Malta has a massive abundance of every kind of Imperial military hardware, including super-heavy tanks. *'Military': Colossal active force and tens of millions of Imperial Guardsmen, along with hundreds of millions of reserves (see below). Massive System Defense Fleet (including mothballed capital ships) and sizeable Imperial Navy Battlefleet on permanent assignment to the system and its surrounding area, including the Retribution-class Battleship Alexios Komnenos. Many Inquisitional forces of all kinds. Sisters of the Order of Bloody Tears guard the Church of His Eternal Will (like storm troopers they are not subject to the quarantine, so many veteran Sisters of Battle around Sector Deus have served terms of duty on Malta). *'Strategic': Magna Malta controls the Shield systems that monitors and guard the outskirts of the Grave, and Malta itself lies within the Headstone, the most reliable exit of the warp storm. Malta and these defensive structures simply cannot be allowed to fall, or chaos forces will spread through the sector and beyond at an alarming rate. *'Loyalty': 74% The constant chaos incursions against Malta leave festering cults in their wake, despite the best efforts of the local Inquisition. But the strict and highly militarised culture maintains general loyalty and discipline. 'The Maltan Guard' Malta's ground-based military is considered a part of the Imperial Guard rather than an independant PDF. The reason for this is twofold. First because the governor of Malta is always a Lord General of the Imperial Guard, thus putting the planet's military under the control of the Imperial Guard anyway. The second is that Malta's military is considered so critical that it is heavily supplied by materiel tithed from other planets, while PDFs are only supplied by their own world. However while it is officially a part of the Imperial Guard, the Maltan Guard has its own distinct practices. Most notably is that the Maltan Guard is divided into two primary sub-divisions: the Active Guard and the Reserve Guard. 'Maltan Reserve Guard' Every Maltan is automatically considered a member of the Reserve Guard upon their thirteenth birthday, when their education progresses from elementary schools to miltary academies, and will remain a member of the Reserve Guard until their death (with one exception outlined below). The military academies that every Maltan passes through from age 13 to 18 turns every single one into a theoretically combat-capable soldier. Once they graduate their academy they enter normal adult life as most do in the Imperium, working in any of the myriad civilian sectors. Reserve Regiments have no specialisation, instead merely referred to as 'XXth Reserve Regiment', and are based on geographic location. Therefore if a Reservist moves location by a long way they will transfer into a different Reserve Regiment, though this is ultimately uncommon. However unlike most in the Imperium, the Reserve Guard of Malta (ie virtually every single citizen) undergo regular military exercise. Most worlds adopt the standard 7 day Terran week of 5 or 6 days of work with 2 or 1 days rest. On Malta however the standard week for a Reserve Guardsman is 4 days of civilian work, 2 days of military exercise, and 1 day of rest. This is further supplemented by four week-long military training events per year for every Reserve Guardsman. Each Reserve Regiment trains together, forming bonds of comradery between them even though they may never meet outside of training. Unlike regular Imperial Guard regiments that are compartmentalised to distribute power, these Reserve Regiments are entirely self-contained with their support units. This ensure the Reserve Guard maintains a state of excellent readiness should the planet drastically need additional soldiers, and while the majority of the Reserve Guard consists of women, children, and older or less able men they are still far superior to the civilian militia that most planets are forced to conscript in times of dire need. Another fact of the Maltan Reserve Guard is that it means every single Maltan has a military rank. Most graduate their academy as Private and remain as such their entire life, but those who show greater interest and determination in their training exercises can rise up the ranks with age. No matter their rank, any Maltan Reserve Guardsman has the "Res." suffix attached to their rank to distinguish them from the Active Guard. This is an important distinction because Reserve Guardsmen no matter their rank do not have authority over Active Guardsmen, while Active Guardsmen have authority over Reserve Guardsmen by up to three grades above (for example a Reserve Colonel has no authority over an Active Lieutenant, but an Active Captain has authority over any Reservists up to Colonel Rank). While the Reserve Guard itself is a part-time institution, the overarching administration of this vast organisation is a full-time job and overseen by logistical units of the Active Guard. They arrange the supplying of these units and allocate training facilities for their use. 'Maltan Active Guard' The planet's dedicated, professional military force. The Maltan Active Guard consists of Reserve Guardsmen that have volunteered for full military duty and have met the physical requirements for such duty. The Active Guard functions much like the Imperial Guard at large. The Combat Regiments have stringent physical trials and expectations, and only the most suitable Maltans will earn a place in them. There are also Support Regiments with less stringent requirements, who perform the vital rear-line military duties. However they are all full-time soldiers in contrast to the Reserve Guard. It is also soldiers of the Active Guard that operate the military academies and reservist training facilities found all across Malta. The Maltan Active Guard are the planet's first and best line of ground defence, and receive the best new equipment and resources while the Reserve Guard makes do with mostly mothballed materiel. The Maltan Active Guard is a vast and multi-faceted ground-based military. While the majority of its strength is in the form of typical Imperial Guard regiments, it also operates a terestrial Navy and Air Force (known as the Maltan Sea Force and Maltan Air Force respectively). The Maltan Sea Force consists of a large number of seaborne missile ships, submersibles and aircraft carriers that defend Malta's oceans and the skies above. Meanwhile the Maltan Air Force consists of a large number of Aeronautica Wings to support the surface war and Orbital Defence Wings to defend Malta's low-orbit. An Active Guardsman may end up retiring from the Active Guard, at which point they return to the Reserve Guard and usually promoted several ranks to recognise their superiority over the majority of their new comrades. Former Active Guardsmen are highly respected in Reserve Regiments, and often serve as an iron backbone that can keep the Reserve Regiment together should it find itself pressed into battle. 'Notable Locations' *'Aressar Plateau' - A colossal plateau (~25 million square kilometres) made primarily of metamorphic rock interlaced with high-density minerals. Building true fortifications on this surface is nigh-impossible due to the difficulty of boring into the foundation, so it is primarily used as a landing zone for the massive number of landers and dropships ferrying supplies between Malta and the voidcraft in orbit. Massive, heavily defended starports and semi-mobile anti-orbital & air defences are stitched throughout the region, and the edges of the plateau are lined with high mountain ranges that are insurmountable to any conventional army. *'Karrus' - Capital city & centre of all planetary control, located to the east of the Aressar Plateau. Defended by impenetrable orbital defences and the best the Maltan Guard has to offer. Population ~65 million. Notable locations in Karrus: **'Planetary Palace' - A fortress and government building both, the planetary palace houses the high command of Malta. Its exterior walls are guarded by ranks of elite Grenadiers and dozens of batteries of defensive guns. Notable inhabitants: ***'Lord General Baratheus Kal' - The Lord General of Malta and an incredibly experienced strategist. Kal began his military career around 150.M41 as a young Lieutenant in the Maltan Active Guard. He led his men admirably against the occasional cultist uprisings that occur frequently on the planet, but it wasn't until a raid from the Grave attacked his regiment's position that he truly distinguished himself. The death of his company commander put Kal in charge and the Lieutenant quickly rallied his disarrayed troops, personally leading the company to reclaim a vital AA position. With Kal at the front they cleared the area of cultist forces, and Kal himself incinerated a pair of Chaos Space Marines with a melta gun. He quickly turned the hydra emplacements on the raider's hovering dropships and sent them crashing to the ground before turning the autocannons on a mass of counterattacking forces and massacring them. Having essentially saved the regiment, Kal recieved promotion after promotion in the following years until he was a General controlling all Imperial Guard operations on the Aressar Plateau. When in 247.M41 a large scale invasion force broke through the orbital cordon and made planetfall on the plateau, Kal had perfectly anticipated their landing zone and formed up his regiments into a thick defensive cordon around the area. Attempts to break through the Imperial line that encircled them were ineffective due to the rapid redeployment of armoured regiments, and with nowhere to escape to the chaos forces were utterly destroyed by repeated Aeronautica strikes and eventually mopped up when Kal tightened the cordon and swept through the area with his infantry. With the retirement of the previous Lord General soon after, Kal was unanimously voted to take his place by Malta's military parliament and he has served in this position for over a hundred years. ***'The Parliamentary Guard' - The defenders of the interior of the planetary palace and numbering a few hundred strong. The Parliamentary Guard are recruited from among the finest knights of the nearby feudal world of Lituanica to ensure they have no pre-existing loyalites to any particular Maltan officer over others. Once on Malta they are equipped with light powered armour & high quality power weapons, suiting their skills as close combat warriors. The Parliamentary Guard are a fearsome force and willingly defend the planetary palace with their lives, facing down cultist attackers, bloodletters and other horrors in close combat and emerging victorious. ****'Guard-Captain Janus Sobieski' - Commander of the Parliamentary Guard, a position he has held for almost 200 years. Fearless beyond measure and utterly devoted to his duty, Janus is equipped with the absolute finest biological & cybernetic augmentations the Adeptus Mechanicus is capable of providing, leading many to assume the giant man is in fact an Astartes. In practice there is little difference, and Janus has killed several Chaos Astartes in close combat through his illustrious career as well as daemons of all kinds. Clad in warded silver artificer armour and wielding a relic blade blessed by the Ecclesiarchy, Janus is considered one of the most lethal warriors in the Sector. **'Church of His Eternal Will' - The largest cathedral on Malta. The Church of His Eternal Will is an important symbol of faith for the people of Malta, and its garrison of Sororitas can face down daemonic horrors that the Imperial Guard are not equipped to face - either in equipment or spirit. ***'Cardinal Sakkad Merovin' - The most senior member of the Ecclesiarchy on Malta. ***'Canoness Commander Grace Kendell' - The current leader of the Sororitas convent attached to the Church of His Eternal Will. Canoness Kendell has hundreds of Battle Sisters under her command, and thousands of Sisters Hospitaller serve all over Malta. **'Residential Districts' - Dense ferrocrete encases most of Malta and the militarised population live in various designs of bunkers, forts, and armoured walls. Most of these living areas are somewhat cramped but exceptionally neat & efficient, with large communal recreation areas that mimic barracks life. Wealthier citizens enjoy larger quarters while the Nobility have their own Fortress-Palaces. Notable inhabitants: ***'Stradivarus Dynasty' - All dynasties on Malta are military dynasties, and the Stradivaruses are noted as one of the greatest amongst them. Devoted to Malta and firm believers in commanding from the front, the Stradivaruses have a history of service and roll of honour so long that it wraps almost all the way around their palace-forts main hall. They are primarily infantry, armoured, and mechanised officers, while some of their best serve as Grenadier officers. Notable members: ****'General Jan Stradivarus' - Patriarch of the Dynasty and commanding officer of the 5th Maltan Army Group, stationed along the eastern edge of the Aressar Pleateau. Jan is a highly experienced officer and influential figure on Malta. *****'Major (Res.) Kella Vrikke Stradivarus' - Wife of Jan and reserve officer. Kella commands a reserve battallion and spends most of her time overseeing the Dynasty's civilian activities. ****'Lieutenant General Elias Stradivarus' - Son of Jan. Elias commands the 7th Maltan Field Armt, an active duty army stationed to the Aressar Plateau. ****'Colonel Darius Stradivarus' - Commanding officer of thr 18th Maltan Grenadier Regiment, Darius is exceptionally fit and a very dangerous combatant as well as a skilled commander. ****'Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Stradivarus' - An ace commander in the 1st Maltan Armoured regiment, the "Longswords". Mikhail commands a pair of Shadowsword tanks and has dozens of super-heavy class kills. ****'Captain (Res.) Jaeda Stradivarus' - Young dynasty member and reserve officer, Jaeda is a well-known figure who features prominently in morale campaigns. ****'Captain Alexa Stradivarus' - Flight commander in the Maltan Air Force. Alexa leads 3 Flight, 2nd Squadron, 31st Orbital Defence Wing, a unit of six Fury Interceptors known as the "Princess Guard", a reference to Alexa's affectionate callsign of "Princess". A skilled pilot, Alexa has claimed four enemy starfighters thus far and hungers for a fifth to make her an official Ace. ****'Commissar Captain Breckon Stradivarus' - An experienced and feared commissar that oversees the 3rd Maltan Grenadier Regiment, one of the planet's most important and powerful regiments. ****'Junior Commissar Helga Stradivarus' - A young, bombastic Commissar attached to an Armoured battalion on the Aressar Pleateau. Helga's enthusiasm and fearlessness inspires her men far more than a bolt pistol ever could. ***'Oerdin Dynasty' - Another of Malta's old dynasties, the Oedins have an illustrious history as primarily armoured commanders. Thier home is a large palace-fort in Lycea, though the dynasty's high ranking members dwell in Karrus high command. ****'General Arman Oerdin' - Supreme commander of the Karrus Reserve Armies and patriarch of the dynasty. While his sharpest years are far behind him, Arman is an efficient commander of the Karrus Reserves and in times of crisis is expected to muster and control tens of millions of reservists. ****'Colonel Liamm Oerdin' - Commander of the 17th Maltan Armoured regiment, Liamm is an ace commander who leads his regiment from his baneblade, Wrath of Lycea. ****'Major Oskar Oerdin' - Highly skilled tanker and CO of 3rd Battalion, 35th Maltan Armoured regiment. Oskar commands from a Leman Russ Vanquisher named Vorpal Strike and has numerous prestigious kill tallies including a chaos Land Raider. ****'Colonel (Res.) Amia Oerdin' - Commander of the 17,922nd Reserve Regiment, a unit equipped with Ragnaroks and mothballed Leman Russ hulls. Amia drills her part-time reservists very hard in the use of their vehicles, using her dynastic knowledge and making them one of the most efficient reserve armour units on Malta. ***'Griztome Dynasty' - A dynasty that highly rates personal combat skills and valour. The Griztomes are warriors of legend upon Malta with many serving as Grenadiers or even more prestigious roles. This intrinsically dangerous passion also results in many family members being orphaned and inducted into the Schola Progenium. Notable members: ****'Major General Isador Griztome' - Patriarch of the Dynasty and commander of the Maltan Special Operations Corps, an irregular formation consisting of various highly elite units including Grenadiers, veteran armoured companies, experienced drop troop units, and more. Griztome's brigade takes on the most difficult offensive actions on Malta and are legendary to the citizenry. ****'Tempestor Prime Herman Griztome' - Tempestus Scion and CO of 9th Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Athenian Tempestus Regiment. Herman is a hyper-lethal soldier and has served in multiple campaigns on and off Malta. ****'Lieutenant Colonel Christian Griztome' - Senior officer in the 12th Maltan Grenadier Regiment. Christian was awarded the Malta Honorifica after defending his trench alone against several flesh-hounds, slaying four of them (one wih his combat knife). ****'Regimental Sergeant Major Mary Griztome' - Drill Sergeant at the Karrus Girls' Military Academy, an enormous facility like many others on the planet that every teenage girl is expected to pass through. It also sees a large number of Reservist women return ona regular basis for training weeks. Mary is a highly demanding and ferocious Drill Instructor who leads her exercises by example. She once humiliated an entire class by besting them on an assault course while five months pregnant. ****'Sergeant Isiah Griztome' - Squad leader in the 10th Maltan Grenadier Regiment. Isiah is typical of most young Griztome men, at 22 years old he is a fully trained Grenadier, has several confirmed kills, and has three children. ****'Sister Felicia Griztome' - Battle Sister of the Order of Bloody Tears, Felicia is stationed in the Church of His Eternal Will. ***'Crestle Dynasty' - A commercial family with a large freight business on Malta. The Crestles operate large fleets of trucks, lighters, and barges to move supplies across Malta, and while they are beneath military concerns they are capable of exerting a lot of influence over the civilian business sector. ****'Colonel (Res.) Cartar Crestle' - Patriarch of the Dynasty and commander of the 31,349th Maltan Reserve Regiment. Cartar is highly intelligent and influential across Malta's industrial sector, and numerous attempts on his life are met in kind when he deals with his rivals. ***'Jaspere Dynasty' - A dynasty of military aviators, members of the Jaspere Dynasty can be found as pilots in aeronautics wings, orbital defence wings, and drop troop regiments. The Jasperes are skilled, proud, and daring aviators, and are noted for a seemingly genetic trait of lightning fast reflexes. ***'Van Der Geist Dynasty' - An exceptionally old and extremely upper class family, the Van Der Geists have significant luxury holdings and are known to host the most prestigious gatherings on Malta. They have a proud military record as well, favouring horseback units as the most 'proper' and 'civilised' commands for an officer. *'Standat' - Fortress-city located within a colossal valley that runs between Karrus and the Aressar Plateau. The first line of Standat's defence consists of a large military force from Adamant Prime. Population ~30 million. Notable inhabitants: **'General Ceberus Falkonan' - The commander of Standat. General Falkonan is a tactically skilled, headstrong man who originally served as an officer in a Mechanised regiment. **'Lieutenant General Marius Xerant' - A member of the Xerant Dynasty who commands the Adamantian troops here. *'Lycea' - A fortress-city located to the south of the Aressar Plateau, within a large gap between two mountain ranges. Located near the equator, Lycea is a warm, sunbaked city surrounded by scrubland and dusty desert. Population ~25 million. Notable inhabitants: **'General Jesrit Lowe' - The commander of Lycea, General Lowe served as an Armoured regiment officer for decades before he was promoted to the General Staff. *'Circe' - A fortress-city located to the north of the Aressar Pleateau, in a large valley between mountain ranges. Circe is a frosty, snowswept fortress-city that stands firm against blizzards and invaders both. Population ~20 million. **'General Lars Von Chernov' - The commander of Circe. General Von Chernov hails from a family of minor nobility and spent much of his career as an Infantry regiment officer. *'Ocean of Souls' - Malta's largest sea covers almost an entire hemisphere (~40% of the world's surface). This expanse of water is filled with enormous minefields and constantly patrolled by the sizeable Maltan terrestrial navy. It's name comes from the fact that almost all Maltan dead are buried-at-sea here. *'Karrus Station' - Massive space station joined directly to Karrus by an orbital elavator used for bulk supply transfer from orbit to the surface. Also serves as the primary orbital defence platform of Malta, with obscene firepower eclipsed only by the shield stations. Karrus station is heavily guarded by Inquisitorial forces to ensure only those permitted to leave do. *'Grid of Steel' - Term used to refer to the massive network of stations, docks and defence platforms that orbit above every single quadrant of Malta. This network plays host to a large Imperial Navy presence, most notably the Alexios Komnenos. Notable inhabitants: **'Admiral Amos Hefin' - Admiral Hefin never strays far from his flagship, and coordinates the efforts of Battlegroup Tyranus from here. 'Other notable planets in the system' 'Grestor's End' *'World:' Grestor's End *'Type:' Burning Death World *'Tithe:' Nix *'Population:' N/A *'Government:' N/A *'Description:' Located in the inner cauldron and first explored eons ago by the Rogue Trader Artemis Grestor. Landing with a large force of his finest house troops and advanced machinery, he nonethless met his end on the nightmarish world of sulphurous smog, blisteringly hot winds and utterly lethal predators along with the entire landing force. In the millennia since it has been explored only a scant few more times and whilst some of the parties return with precious relics of Grestor's original exploration, others are never heard from again. The rare native creatures are also considered valuable, and some of the most daring beasthunters risk everything trying to capture a razor sharp Sulphur Glider or an acid-spewing Ghostfang. Many of the native creatures exhibit warp-influenced traits, no doubt due to the close proximity to The Grave. *'Technology:' N/A *'Military:' N/A *'Strategic importance:' Nix *'Loyalty:' Nix 'Varramax' *'World:' Varramax *'Type:' Gas Giant *'Tithe:' Nix *'Population:' N/A *'Government:' N/A *'Description:' A vast gas giant, next in line from the system's star after Malta. Varramax's orbit is only slightly outside Malta's and the powerful gravitational pull of the gas giant exerts a strong pull on any debris in the void. As such a large amount of ship wreckage and debris that were made near Malta inevitably end up drawn around Varramax when it passes, and so the gas giant and its many moons plays host to uncountable hulks of twisted metal. Imperial system ships scour the planet and its moons extensively looking for anything to salvage, as do private interests (though they are expected to pay a tax on anything found). *'Technology:' N/A *'Military:' N/A *'Strategic importance:' Minima Varramax is a useful source of recycled starship components, and very occasionally a recoverable hulk may be found. *'Loyalty:' Nix Category:Planet Category:Subsector Tyranus Category:Imperial World Category:Fortress World